Heerhugowaard (;

West Frisian Dutch {{Unreferenced, date=June 2008 The West Frisian dialect ( nl, West-Fries) is a Dutch dialect spoken in the contemporary West Friesland region, Wieringen, Wieringermeer, the coastal area from Den Helder to Castricum, and the island of Texel. It is ...

: ''Heerhugoweard'', ''Heregeweard'' or ''De Weard'') is a city in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, in the province of

North Holland North Holland ( nl, Noord-Holland, ) is a province of the Netherlands in the northwestern part of the country. It is located on the North Sea, north of South Holland and Utrecht, and west of Friesland and Flevoland. In November 2019, it had a ...

and the region of West Friesland. Heerhugowaard was previously a municipality, which merged with the former municipality of

Langedijk Langedijk (; West Frisian Dutch: ''Langedìk'') is a former municipality in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland and the region of West-Frisia. Langedijk received city rights in 1415. Langedijk and the former municipality of Heer ...

into the new municipality of

Dijk en Waard Dijk en Waard ( West Frisian Dutch: ''Doik en Weard/Weerd'' or ''Dìk en Weard/Weerd'') is a municipality in the province of North Holland and the region of West-Frisia, the Netherlands, formed from the merger of Heerhugowaard and Langedijk. The ...

on 1 January 2022.

History

Around the year 800, the area of the modern

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

of Heerhugowaard was covered in

peat Peat (), also known as turf (), is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation or organic matter. It is unique to natural areas called peatlands, bogs, mires, moors, or muskegs. The peatland ecosystem covers and is the most efficien ...

fen A fen is a type of peat-accumulating wetland fed by mineral-rich Groundwater, ground or surface water. It is one of the main types of wetlands along with marshes, swamps, and bogs. Bogs and fens, both peat-forming ecosystems, are also known as ...

. Because of peat-digging and storm floods many lakes developed in the region, including the Heerhugowaard. The name is derived from lord ('heer' in Dutch) Hugo van

Assendelft Assendelft () is a town in the province of North Holland, Netherlands. It is a part of the municipality of Zaanstad. Assendelft was a separate municipality until 1974, when the municipality of Zaanstad was formed. However, Assendelft didn't wan ...

who was killed by the West Frisians in this area in 1296. After two storms in 1248, the abbey of Egmond, which had much property in this region, built the ''Schagerdam'' at

Schagen Schagen () is a city and municipality in the northwestern Netherlands. It is located between Alkmaar and Den Helder, in the region of West Friesland and the province of North Holland. It received city rights in 1415. In 2013, Schagen merged wit ...

. This became part of the

Westfriese Omringdijk The Westfriese Omringdijk (West-Frisian Circular Dyke) is a dyke system that protected the region of Westflinge, part of the historical region of West-Frisia. Westflinge is now commonly referred to as West-Frisia as the rest of historical W ...

, which protected the pentagon

Alkmaar Alkmaar () is a city and municipality in the Netherlands, located in the province of North Holland, about 30 km north of Amsterdam. Alkmaar is well known for its traditional cheese market. For tourists, it is a popular cultural destination. The ...

- Medemblik -

Enkhuizen Enkhuizen () is a municipality and a city in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland and the region of West-Frisia. History Enkhuizen, like Hoorn and Amsterdam, was one of the harbor-towns of the VOC, from where overseas trade w ...

Hoorn Hoorn () is a city and municipality in the northwest of the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. It is the largest town and the traditional capital of the region of West Friesland. Hoorn is located on the Markermeer, 20 kilometers ( ...

. Uncontrollable increase of the lake had been prevented. In the 17th century private investors decided to drain the lake to create farmland. In 1630 the

polder A polder () is a low-lying tract of land that forms an artificial hydrological entity, enclosed by embankments known as dikes. The three types of polder are: # Land reclaimed from a body of water, such as a lake or the seabed # Flood plains s ...

was drained and was , and the land was divided among the initiators. In contrast to e.g. the

Beemster Beemster () is a former municipality in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. The Beemster is the first so-called polder in the Netherlands that was reclaimed from a lake, the water being extracted from the lake by windmills. The Beem ...

, the quality of the new land was very disappointing. In 1674 there was even a serious proposal to refill the polder with water, reasoning that the area would be more profitable as fishing water. A major event in the recent history of Heerhugowaard was the unexpected victory of

Princess Margriet Princess Margriet Francisca of the Netherlands (born 19 January 1943) is the third daughter of Queen Juliana and Prince Bernhard. As an aunt of the reigning monarch, King Willem-Alexander, she is a member of the Dutch Royal House and currently ...

at the first-ever held ''Keegelfestival'' of 1961. This

bowling Bowling is a target sport and recreational activity in which a player rolls a ball toward pins (in pin bowling) or another target (in target bowling). The term ''bowling'' usually refers to pin bowling (most commonly ten-pin bowling), thou ...

festival was an annual event until 1984, when the organising bowling club declared

bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor ...

due to financial mismanagement.

Geography

Heerhugowaard is part of the province of

North-Holland North Holland ( nl, Noord-Holland, ) is a province of the Netherlands in the northwestern part of the country. It is located on the North Sea, north of South Holland and Utrecht, and west of Friesland and Flevoland. In November 2019, it had a p ...

and is located in the west of the Netherlands. The

land reclamation Land reclamation, usually known as reclamation, and also known as land fill (not to be confused with a waste landfill), is the process of creating new land from oceans, seas, riverbeds or lake beds. The land reclaimed is known as reclamati ...

of Heerhugowaard is situated 3 metres under sea level. The surrounding land is flat as it is formed of large

s. To the southwest of the city lies

Topography

''Map of Heerhugowaard (town), 2014.''

Climate

Heerhugowaard has a cool

oceanic climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate, is the humid temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring cool summers and mild winters ( ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

''Cfb''), strongly influenced by its proximity to the North Sea to the west, with prevailing north-western winds and gales. Winter temperatures are cool to mild. Heerhugowaard, as well as most of North-Holland province, lies in

USDA The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the federal executive department responsible for developing and executing federal laws related to farming, forestry, rural economic development, and food. It aims to meet the needs of com ...

Hardiness zone A hardiness zone is a geographic area defined as having a certain average annual minimum temperature, a factor relevant to the survival of many plants. In some systems other statistics are included in the calculations. The original and most wide ...

9, the northernmost such occurrence in

continental Europe Continental Europe or mainland Europe is the contiguous continent of Europe, excluding its surrounding islands. It can also be referred to ambiguously as the European continent, – which can conversely mean the whole of Europe – and, by ...

Frost Frost is a thin layer of ice on a solid surface, which forms from water vapor in an above-freezing atmosphere coming in contact with a solid surface whose temperature is below freezing, and resulting in a phase change from water vapor (a gas) ...

s mainly occur during spells of easterly or northeasterly winds from the inner

European continent Continental Europe or mainland Europe is the contiguous continent of Europe, excluding its surrounding islands. It can also be referred to ambiguously as the European continent, – which can conversely mean the whole of Europe – and, by ...

, from Scandinavia, Russia, or even

Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part of ...

. Even then, because Heerhugowaard is surrounded on three sides by large

bodies of water A body of water or waterbody (often spelled water body) is any significant accumulation of water on the surface of Earth or another planet. The term most often refers to oceans, seas, and lakes, but it includes smaller pools of water such as p ...

, as well as enjoying a significant heat island effect, nights rarely fall below . Summers are moderately warm but rarely hot. The average daily high in August is . Days with measurable

precipitation In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under gravitational pull from clouds. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, sleet, snow, ice pellets, graupel and hail. ...

are common, on average 189 days per year. Nevertheless, Heerhugowaard's average annual precipitation is only . Most of this precipitation is in the form of protracted drizzle or light rain, making cloudy and damp days common during the cooler months of October through March. Only the occasional European windstorm brings significant rain in a short period of time, requiring it to be pumped out to higher ground or to the seas around the city.

Cityscape

Population centres

The former municipality of Heerhugowaard consisted of the following towns, villages and/or districts: Broekhorn, Butterhuizen,

De Noord ''De Noord'' (English: ''The North'') is a windmill located on the Noordvest 38 in Schiedam, Netherlands. It is the tallest windmill in the world with a roof height of 33.3 metres. Its wing span is 26.6 metres. The mill is one of the five remain ...

, Draai, Frik, Kabel, 't Kruis, Veenhuizen, Verlaat, Oostertocht, Bomenwijk, Schilderswijk, Rivierenwijk, Edelstenenwijk,

Stad van de Zon Stad van de Zon (City of the Sun) is a housing and building project in Heerhugowaard, The Netherlands, based on a concept developed by Bert Smolders, then urban planner with Kuiper Compagnons, and further realized by the renowned architect and urba ...

Building

In the course of time the population has grown. In 1960, Heerhugowaard had 6,800 inhabitants; this number became 25,000 in 1975, 47,239 in 2004 and 48,267 in 2005. In May 2007, Heerhugowaard welcomed its 50,000th inhabitant. Currently, Heerhugowaard has approximately 55,000 inhabitants. For several years in the 1970s, Heerhugowaard was the fastest growing municipality in the Netherlands. It is intended that Heerhugowaard eventually will have at least 60,000 inhabitants. The general expectation is that around 2050, Heerhugowaard will be the size of the nearby located City of Alkmaar, and will have approximately 100,000 inhabitants. There are problems with retaining the youth however, so that this number might never be reached. As young people leave their parents' homes, they prefer to move to other places such as Alkmaar or

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

. The major part of the inhabitants lives in so-called Vinex-districts. The rural core of the North lies in the Middenwaard. The core of the south is at Stationsweg by the old church. In the polders there are small hamlets. The greater part of the town is new developments. The best rural core is in the villages of Centrumwaard and De Noord. Heerhugowaard has a small shopping area in Centrumwaard, and a large shopping centre in the district of Middenwaard. There is a cinema. Since 2004 there has been a coffee shop in Heerhugowaard. This coffee shop however, has met with fierce opposition from some of the local population, who have bombarded the coffee shop with stones several times. The other part realizes this establishment is there to make sure the laws are respected (e.g. no sales to 18- ) and to make sure there is no cross pollination between soft and hard drugs. Heerhugowaard has a number of subdivisions which were set up the same as in

Almere Almere () is a planned city and municipality in the province of Flevoland, Netherlands, located about 20 km to the east of Amsterdam (as the crow flies) across the IJmeer. Bordering Lelystad and Zeewolde, the municipality of Almere comprise ...

, for example the writer district, the tree district, the planet district, and the nature area of Butterhuizen. In two of the newest districts, called

I and II (= City of the Sun I and II) the energy supplies for a considerable part comes from

solar energy Solar energy is radiant light and heat from the Sun that is harnessed using a range of technologies such as solar power to generate electricity, solar thermal energy (including solar water heating), and solar architecture. It is an essenti ...

Parks

The surroundings of Heerhugowaard are quite varied and beautiful. Not far from Heerhugowaard you will find several landscapes. East of the agglomeration there are different kinds of flower bulb fields. In the mid-1980s, 61 hectares of woodland were planted, the "Waarderhout". Of course you will also find much farmland in the region of Heerhugowaard.

Shopping centre

One

shopping centre A shopping center (American English) or shopping centre ( Commonwealth English), also called a shopping complex, shopping arcade, shopping plaza or galleria, is a group of shops built together, sometimes under one roof. The first known colle ...

in Heerhugowaard is Middenwaard, owned by

real estate investment Real estate investing involves the purchase, management and sale or rental of real estate for profit. Someone who actively or passively invests in real estate is called a real estate entrepreneur or a real estate investor. Some investors actively ...

company Wereldhave. Middenwaard was built in five phases. Construction began in 1974, while the last phase was completed in 2008. Because of this phased development, the shopping centre has an odd external and internal appearance. Meanwhile, Middenwaard has been renovated and has an unambiguous appearance nowadays. Middenwaard offers a large variety in stores and services, including:

Transport

Heerhugowaard has good connections with the neighbouring places. Buses go to and from

, Bergen NH, Broek Op Langedijk and Ursem. Also Heerhugowaard has

Interliner Interliner is an express bus system in the Netherlands. In this country the backbone of medium and long distance public transport is the railroad system. Long distance buses are used complementarily. While most bus lines have many stops or only ...

links.

Heerhugowaard railway station Heerhugowaard railway station serves the towns of Heerhugowaard and Broek op Langedijk, Netherlands. The station opened on 20 December 1865 and is located on the Den Helder–Amsterdam railway and Heerhugowaard–Hoorn railway. The train services ...

is on the railway routes to

and Den Helder,

Nijmegen Nijmegen (;; Spanish and it, Nimega. Nijmeegs: ''Nimwèège'' ) is the largest city in the Dutch province of Gelderland and tenth largest of the Netherlands as a whole, located on the Waal river close to the German border. It is about 6 ...

, and

Haarlem Haarlem (; predecessor of ''Harlem'' in English) is a city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of North Holland. Haarlem is situated at the northern edge of the Randstad, one of the most populated metropoli ...

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...

. Heerhugowaard is on the N242, the N508 and the N507 road.

Government

The former municipal council of Heerhugowaard consisted of 31 seats, which were divided as follows: ''* = separation of Burgerbelang

Sister cities

Heerhugowaard has one

sister city A sister city or a twin town relationship is a form of legal or social agreement between two geographically and politically distinct localities for the purpose of promoting cultural and commercial ties. While there are early examples of inter ...

Notable people

Theodorus Dekker Theodorus Jozef Dekker (Dirk Dekker, 1 March 1927 - 25 November 2021) was a Dutch mathematician. Dekker completed his Ph.D. degree from the University of Amsterdam in 1958. His thesis was titled "Paradoxical Decompositions of Sets and Spaces". ...

(born 1927) a Dutch mathematician who developed

Dekker's algorithm Dekker's algorithm is the first known correct solution to the mutual exclusion problem in concurrent programming where processes only communicate via shared memory. The solution is attributed to Dutch mathematician Th. J. Dekker by Edsger W. Dijks ...

Sport

Rudi Lubbers Rudolfus Josefus Maria "Rudie" Lubbers (born 17 August 1945) is a retired Dutch boxer who competed at the 1964 and 1968 Summer Olympics. In 1964 he finished ninth as light-heavyweight and in 1968 fifth as heavyweight. Nationally, Lubbers won six ...

(born 1945) a retired Dutch boxer who competed at the 1964 and 1968 Summer Olympics * Monique van der Lee (born 1973) a former Dutch judoka, competed at the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de 1992), officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XXV Olimpiada, ca, Jocs de la XXV Olimpíada) and commonly known as ...

* Anousjka van Exel (born 1974) a Dutch former tennis player * Arvid Smit (born 1980) a football coach and former professional footballer with 224 club caps * Stefanie van der Gragt (born 1992) a Dutch footballer *

Tess Wester Tess Lieder (''née'' Wester, born 19 May 1993) is a Dutch handballer who plays as goalkeeper for the Netherlands women's national handball team, Dutch national team. A full international with the Dutch national team since 2012, she won the silve ...

(born 1993) a Dutch handballer who plays as goalkeeper for

Odense Håndbold Odense Håndbold (in its first season: Odense GOG and after that Handball Club Odense) is a Danish women's handball team, that plays in Damehåndboldligaen, Denmark's premier women's handball league. It was created in August 2009 and took over ...

and the Dutch national team

Gallery

File:Aarde en Water Nic Jonk Heerhugowaard Dolomiet.JPG, Earth and water, by Nic Jonk in Dolomiet Square File:Poldermuseum Heerhugowaard.jpg, Poldermuseum Heerhugowaard File:Intenieur, aanzicht orgel, orgelnummer 639 - Heerhugowaard - 20417152 - RCE.jpg, Intenieur, aanzicht orgel, orgelnummer 639 - Heerhugowaard File:Heerhugowaard-Alkmaar 25 Jan 2011 - panoramio - Heiloo.jpg, Heerhugowaard-Alkmaar 25 Jan 2011 - panoramio - Heiloo File:Heerhugowaard molen Veenhuizer.jpg, Heerhugowaard molen Veenhuizer

References

External links

*
Official website
{{Authority control Former municipalities of North Holland Populated places in North Holland Polders of North Holland Municipalities of the Netherlands disestablished in 2022 *